Entry 7 - Rafting

A lot has happened since I last blogged.
I risked my life, almost saw Jesus a few times, and had all the chocolate bars stolen from the house.
With that said, I feel the need to explain a little.haha
On Friday, all the interns, Ethan, Amanda, and the Sheers (with the exception of Lee) went white water rafting on the Nile. It was so intense! We went down class 5 rapids and a waterfall. CRAZY! I fell out three times in class 4 and 5 rapids. Our guide Henry 2 was amazing. Arin and Scott Sheer, Baylee, Megan, Kelli, and Jordan were all on my raft. In order to allow you to experience just a little of what i felt... i am going to describe to you one in particular instance we encountered while rafting.
The Waterfall:
At one point of the day, we were going to go over a waterfall... about a 10 foot drop. We had been preparing ourselves before hand...going over rules and practicing rowing the boat so we would be ready for the fall. Well, we started rowing and got about 20 feet from the fall...then all of a sudden the boat shifted! We started heading towards a huge rock at the top of the waterfall. Within the next few seconds we had crashed into the rock,..and got stuck on top of it in a sideways position! On one side of the boat i can hear Baylee, jordan and Kelli all screaming! I was just thinking, O Lord! help us! haha. Later on, Baylee explained to me that when she looked over the side of the boat,...all she could see was straight rock...the boat had stopped the water from going over the rock...It was a straight drop to the bottom! If we had flipped over...we all would have been goners...stuck under the boat, the water, and the waterfall. Luckily, Henry jumped out of the boat...i know what you are thinking,..how can it be a good thing for the guide to be out of the boat....but, he started pulling the boat off the rock with his own strength...We finally got unstuck and flew down the waterfall!
I will definitely have pictures posted when i get back to the states. The computers are too slow here to upload a lot of pictures.

A few of us were thinking about going rafting again before we leave. I'm still contemplating the idea.

Saturday we all went out and ate dinner at a really nice restaurant in town. It was so much fun! Definitely where backpackers hangout. The view of the Nile from the restaurant was breathtaking! Unfortunately, when we returned we found all the computers in the house to be turned on and all the chocolate gone from the pantry. Some of the children snuck into the house while we were out, and decided to make themselves comfortable. haha...whole bag of chocolate bars, and all. So, now they are reaping the consequences of their actions.

On another note, things are going better with Gloria! She is feeling much better! We went to the swings today for a while,...then we sat in the shade of a tree outside the house, and colored for a while. i am so glad her health is better! Thank you for all of your prayers! The Lord is answering your requests!


"And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:13-16


Prayer Request:
- Gloria's health
- Wisdom in how i spend my time
- God to help me love others that are around me
- unity within the intern team
- perseverance/ standing strong with the last two weeks i am in Uganda.
- Health for Eddie and Phillip - both HIV+ children here at the orphanage. ( i went to the hospital with them last week, i still need to blog about my experience at a Ugandan hospital)

Thanks again for all of your prayers! I cant wait to tell you all about it in person!

Entry 6 - Boxy?

I have not been on the Internet in a long long time. Things are getting busier each day. But, ironically its not in the busyness we experience at home. The things that fill your time here are all primarily focused around children. Almost everything i do now centers around investing in the school children and the interns that are here.
For the past four afternoons, (after 4 o'clock) i have been spending my time being an airplane, bunny, boat, and karate instructor...hahaha......
i know that sounds weird. but, i have my "play time" with the village kids after they get off of school. It's so much fun!!! Definitely brings me back to my childhood. Its amazing to be running around pretending you're an airplane with about 20 other little airplanes following you!
I try to show the love of Christ to the children here by spending time with them. In fact, they all expect a hug now, before I leave each afternoon...today they literally lined up and all gave me a hug, one by one. - All voluntarily planned -HOW SWEET!!! Of course there were those who jumped on me...and the rest followed. The children here are a prime example of the fact that people are people...no matter where they are from. We all have desires to be loved, wanted, cared for, and nurtured.

Little update on Gloria:
Gloria has been really sick the past four days, but thankfully today she is feeling much better. I went in to get her on Monday, and she had a really bad temperature. Poor thing was unable to even get in her wheel chair most of the week...But, today she had enough strength to take a stroll to the swings. She laughed the whole way there... I think she was just glad to be out of the house. Please continue to pray for here though. (For a complete recovery) THANKS!

Please also continue to pray for unity among the interns here... The Lord has definitely made his presence known among us...but pray for the continual reminder that we should desire to live in His presence ALL THE TIME.
We have planned to have a dinner, movie, and game night tonihgt. YAY!

I also feel the need to mention that in the time it took me to write Entry 5 and Entry 6, I got box braids. Basically little bitty braids all over my head. haha,... but, after three days of having them in....i took them out. They were really hot and heavy! It was difficult going from short hair to thick long hair all in 6 and a half hours....thats right..it took 6 1/2 hours for them to braid my hair...hahaha.... i watched 2 1/2 movies: The Princess Bride, Miss Congeniality, and 1/2 of Stranger than Fiction.

Anyways, enough with hair news...

A special thanks goes out to Rebecca for the letter i read this morning!! The Isaiah 6 reference definitely allowed my heart to have the right focus this morning!

Thanks again for all of your prayers! I can't wait to see all of you soon!